President Trump said in an interview with NBC News he is “pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatened to put secondary tariffs on Russian oil if he deems it to be “Russia’s fault” that a deal is not struck to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s angry rhetoric is a shift from the softer approach the White House had taken toward Russia in ongoing talks to end the years-long war.
“I was very angry, pissed off” when Putin “started getting into [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s credibility” and “started talking about new leadership” in Ukraine, Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone call.
He told Welker he plans to speak with Putin this week.
But Trump previously called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” as the U.S.-Ukraine relationship tumbled to a new low.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs … on all oil coming out of Russia,” he said.
Trump told Newsmax in an interview aired Tuesday that Russia could be “dragging their feet” but wants to see an end to the war.
That same day, the White House announced it had reached agreements with Russia and Ukraine to ensure “safe navigation” in the Black Sea and to develop “measures for implementing” a ban on strikes against energy facilities in the two nations.
But the Kremlin stressed in a statement that its agreement to the ceasefire is contingent on sanction relief.
A senior White House official told Axios’ Barak Ravid earlier this month that “Trump’s rage has been intensifying” in response to Russia’s behavior and its escalation of strikes on Ukraine as he pushes for a ceasefire.
Trump said in a March 7 Truth Social post that “[b]ased on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia” until a ceasefire agreement is made.
The U.S. has extensive sanctions in place against Russia, but the administration reportedly considered loosening sanctions as part of a path toward improved relations.
